IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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1.0    ^Bil^ 
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11.25  iU    |L6 


Sciences 
CarporatiQn 


;  3  WBT  MAM  STRHT 

MIUTIR,N.Y.  14SM 

(7l6)l7a-4S0i 


CIHM/ICMH 


Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  InstituM  for  Historical  IMicroraproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microraproductiont  liistoriquas 


;V 


Technical  and  BIbliooraphic  Notaa/Notaa  taehniquaa  at  bibliographiquaa 


Tha  Inatituta  haa  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Faaturaa  of  thia 
copy  which  may  ba  bibllographically  unique, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagea  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  aignificantly  change 
the  uaual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
0 
D 

D 


D 


Coloured  covera/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covera  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagte 

Covera  reatored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  reataurAe  et/ou  peliiculAe 

Cover  title  miaaing/ 

La  titra  da  couverture  manque 

Coloured  mapa/ 

Cartas  g6ographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illuatrationa/ 
Pianchea  et/ou  illuatrationa  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avac  d'autrea  documanta 

Tight  binding  may  cauae  ahadows  or  diatortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  iiure  serr6e  peut  cauaar  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  la  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  reatoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  poaaible.  theae 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certainea  pagea  blanchea  aJoutAea 
lore  d'une  reatauration  apparaiaaant  dana  la  taxte. 
mais,  lorsque  cela  4tait  poaaible,  cea  pagea  n'ont 
pea  dtA  filmtea. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppiAmentairea; 


L'Inatltut  a  microfilm*  la  meilleur  exempleire 
qu'll  lul  a  it*  poaaible  de  aa  procurer.  Lea  details 
de  cet  exempleire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  Mbllographiqua,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modificetion  dana  la  mithoda  normale  de  f ilmaga 
aont  IndiquAa  ci-daaaoue. 


D 
D 
D 
0 
D 
Q 
D 
D 
D 
D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pagea  de  couleur 

Pagea  damaged/ 
Pagea  endommagAea 

Pagea  reatored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pagea  reataurtea  et/ou  peiliculAes 

Pagea  diacoloured.  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pagea  dicolortes,  tachaties  ou  piquAes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pagea  d*tach6as 

Showthrough/ 
Tranaparance 

Quality  of  print  varlaa/ 
Quaiit*  inAgale  de  I'impreaaion 

Includea  aupplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  material  supTslimantaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Mition  diaponible 

Pagea  wholly  or  partially  obacurad  by  erreta 
allpa,  tiaauea.  etc..  have  been  refilmed  to 
enaure  tha  beat  poaaible  image/ 
Lea  pagea  totalement  ou  partlallement 
obacurciea  par  un  fauiiiat  d'errata,  une  peiure, 
etc..  ont  At*  filmiea  A  nouveau  da  fa^on  A 
obtanir  la  mailleiira  image  poaaible. 


Thia  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  eat  filmi  au  taux  de  rMuctton  indiqu*  cl-deaaoua. 

10X  14X  ItX  2IX 


MX 


30X 


^ 


12X 


16X 


aox 


24X 


2BX 


32X 


Tha  copy  film«d  h«r«  has  b««n  r«produe«d  thanks 
to  tha  ganaroaity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'axamplaira  film<i  fut  raproduit  grica  A  la 
g4n4roaltA  da: 

BibllothAqua  natlonala  du  Canada 


Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
poaalbia  consMaring  tha  condition  and  laglbility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printad  papar  covers  ara  fHmad 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  iliuatratad  impres- 
ston,  or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  Illustrated  imprea- 
sion.  and  ending  on  the  laat  page  with  a  printad 
or  illustrated  impresston. 


Les  images  suh/antas  ont  *t6  reproduites  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
da  la  nettetA  de  rexemplaire  f llmA,  et  en 
conformity  avac  les  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couvarture  en 
papier  est  Imprimie  sent  fllmto  en  commenpant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  an  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporta  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'illustration,  solt  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  las  autras  exemplaires 
originaux  sent  filmte  an  commandant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'ImpriMslon  ou  d'lllustraticn  at  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  lest  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  «-►  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  aymbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  appliea. 


Un  das  symboles  suhrants  apparattra  sur  la 
dai-nlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  la  aymbole  — ^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  la 
symbole  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Meps,  plates,  cherts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  et 
different  reduction  retloa.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  ere  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  framea  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  certes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
fllmte  A  das  taux  de  rMuction  diffArents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
raproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  II  est  film*  A  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  an  prenant  la  nombre 
d'images  n^cesselre.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
lllustrant  la  mAthode. 


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ACCESS 


TO   AN 


OPEN    POLAR    SEA 


IX   CONNECTION    WITH 


TIIK  SEAltOII   AVTEU  SIR  J()1L\   FliANKLlX    A^D 

HIS  COMPANlOiNS, 


8T 


E.K.KANE,  M.  D., 

PAST    ASSISTANT    SUBOEON     IN    TIIK    U.    8.    NAVT. 


JUi'- 


trngatfit^ 


READ    UKKOUK    TIIK    AMKKICAN    GEOOnAlMIICAI,    AND    STATISTICAL    SOCIETY 
AT    ITS    UEGULAH    MONTHLV    MEETING,    DEC.    ! 4,  1852. 


[IloptlnUid  (Vom  th.  Seconil  Bullvtln  of  Ui*  Society.] 


\ 


NEW   YORK: 
BAKER,    GODWIN    A    CO.,    PRINTERS, 

CORNER    NASSAU    AND    SrRUCK   STREETS. 

1853. 


THE  OPEN  POLAR  SEA. 


The  north  pole,  the  remote  northern  extremity  of  our 
earth's  axis  of  rotation,  is  reganled,  even  hy  geograr 
phers,  with  that  mysterious  awe  which  envelops  the 
inaccessible  and  unknown. 

It  is  shut  out  from  us  by  an  investing  zone  of  ice  ;  and 
this  barrier  is  so  permanent,  that  successive  explorers 
have  traced  its  outline,  like  that  of  an  ordinary  seacoast. 

The  early  settlements  of  Iceland,  and  their  extension 
to  Greenland,  as  far  back  as  000  A.  D.,  indicated  a  pro- 
truding tongue  of  ice  from  the  unknown  north,  along 
the  coast  of  Greenland.  I  must  express  a  doubt  if  the 
early  voyages  of  Cabot  and  Frobisher  and  the  Corte- 
reals  did  more  than  establish  detached  points  of  this 
line  of  ice.  The  voyages,  however,  of  the  Basque  and 
Biscayan  fishermen,  about  157r),  to  Cape  Breton,  made 
us  aware  of  a  similar  ice  raft  along  the  coasts  of  Labra- 
dor to  the  north ;  and  the  commercial  routes  of  the  old 
Muscovy  company  aided  by  the  Dutch  and  English  whal- 
ers, extended  this  across  to  Spitzbergen,  and  thence  to 
the  regions  north  of  Archangel  in  the  Arctic  seas.  The 
English  navigators  of  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  the  "  notable 


wortliys  of  the  Nortlie  Westo  Paaango/'  spoke  of  a  sim- 
ilar iee-raft  up  Baffin's  anil  Hudson's  Hays,  and  the  llusso- 
Siberiansgave  us  vagut^ly  a  girding  line  of  ice  ;  which  pro- 
truded irregularly  from  the  Asiatic  and  Eiiroi)ean  coasts 
into  the  Polar  Ocean.  Ljustly,  Cook  proved  that  the  same 
barrier  continued  across  liehring's  Straits  as  high  as  70° 
44'  north. 

From  all  this  it  aj)peared  that  the  approaches  to 
the  pole  were  barricaded  with  solid  ice.  We  owe  to  the 
march  of  modern  discovery,  especially  stimulated  by  the 
search  after  its  great  pioneer,  Sir  John  Franklin,  our 
ability  accurately  to  define  nearly  all  the;  coasts  of  a 
great  polar  sea,  if  not  to  lay  down  the  no  less  interesting 
coast  of  a  grand  continuous  ice-border,  that  encircles  it. 

I  have  j)repared  for  the  inspecti<m  of  the  Society,  a 
diagram  or  chart,  which  will  show  the  completeness  with 
which  these  may  now  be  delineated. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  this  ice,  idthough  influ- 
enced by  winds,  currents,  and  deflecting  land  nuisses, 
retains  through  the  correi4])onding  ])eriod  of  each  succes- 
sive year,  a  strikingly  uniform  outline. 

During  the  winter  an<l  sjiring,  from  October  to  May, 
or  eight  months  of  the  year,  it  may  be  found  traviding 
down  the  coast  of  Labrador  almost  to  Newfoundland, 
blockading  the  apj)roaches  into  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
cementing  into  one  great  mass  the  numberless  outlets 
which  extend  from  it  and  Baffin's  Bay  to  the  unknown 
coasts  of  the  north. 

Influenced  by  the  earth's  rotation,  this  ice  accumulates 
towards  the  westward,  leaving  an  uncei'tain  passage 
along  the  eastern  watera  of  Baffin's  Bay ;  after  which  it 
resumes  its  march  along  the  eastern  cojist  of  Greenland, 
shutting  in  that  extensive  region  appropriated  to  the 


interesting  legend,  or  that  meteorological  myth,  as  it 
has  been  designated  by  Humboldt,  of  "  Lost  Greenland." 
Its  next  course  is  to  the  northeast,  sometimes  envelop- 
ing Iceland ;  and  thence,  extending  to  the  east  by  Jan 
Meyen's  Land  and  S|)itz])ergen,  it  crosses  the  meridian 
of  Greenwich  at  some  point  between  the  latitudes  of  70° 
and  7:^°. 

I  now  call  your  attention  to  a  remarkable  feature  in 
this  great  ice  coast-line.  Upon  reaching  a  longitude  of 
about  70°  east,  it  suddenly  turns  towards  the  north, 
forming  a  marked  indentation  as  high  as  latitude  80° ; 
then  coming  again  to  the  south  east  until  it  reaches 
Cherie  Island,  it  contiimes  on  with  a  varying  line  to  the 
unexpKnvd  regions  north  of  Nova  Zembhi. 

This  indentation  or  sinuosity,  best  known  as  the  old 
"Fishing  Right"  of  the  (h'eenland  seas,  is  undoubtedly 
due  to  the  thermal  influences  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  We 
know  that  the  coasts  of  Nova  Zembla  feel  the  influences 
of  its  waters ;  and  Petermann  and  many  others,  guided 
by  the  projected  curves  of  Dove,  suppose  that  its  heated 
current  is  deflected  by  that  peninsula,  so  as  to  impress 
the  polar  ice  to  a  greater  degree  of  northing  than  on 
any  other  part  of  our  globe. 

It  would  be  important  to  the  objects  of  my  communi- 
cation, that  I  should  trace  this  ice  throughout  its  entire 
extent ;  but  I  have  not  the  means  of  doing  so  with  ex- 
actness. Barentz,  in  1596,  was  arrested  by  ice  in  latitude 
77"  25'  upon  the  meridian  of  70"  east.  Pront-schitscheff 
met  the  same  rebuif  at  the  same  height,  thirty  degrees 
further  west  (100°  east.)  Anjou,  Matieuschin,  and 
Wrangell  found  it  in  a  varying  belt  along  the  Asiatic 
coast,  at  farthest  but  fifty  miles  in  width. 

The  enterprise  of  our  American  whalers    has    also 


d 


traced  this  ice  across  Behring's  Straits,  as  high  as  lati- 
tude 72*»  40' ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Herald  Island, 
in  latitude  71**  17 ,  is  a  part  of  a  great  island  chain,  con- 
tinued from  Cape  Yacan  to  Banks'  Land  and  the  Parry 
Islands;  an  archipelago,  wliose  northern  faces  are  yet 
unexplored,  but  which  undoubtedly  serves  as  a  cluster 
of  points  of  ice  cementation,  and  abounds  more  or  less 
with  polar  ice  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

We  have  now  followed,  throughout  its  entire  circuit, 
this  immense  investing  body.  The  circumpolar  ice,  as 
I  will  venture  to  name  it,  may  be  said  to  bound  an  im- 
perfect circle  of  C),0()0  miles  in  circumference  with  a  rude 
diameter  of  2,000  miles,  and  an  area,  if  we  admit  its  con- 
tinuity to  the  pole,  one-third  larger  than  the  continent 
of  Europe. 

But  theory  has  determined  thnt  this  great  surface  is 
not  continuous.  It  is  an  annulus,  a  ring  surrounding  an 
area  of  open  water, — the  Polynya,  or  Iceless  Sea. 

Polynya  is  ti  Russian  word,  signifying  an  oj)en  space ; 
and  it  is  used  by  the  Siberians  to  indicate  the  occasional 
vacancies  which  occur  in  a  frozen  water-surface.  Al- 
though such  a  vacancy  as  applied  to  a  polar  sea  is  gene- 
rally recognized  to  exist,  it  is  right  for  me  to  state  that 
this  opinion  is  not  based  upon  the  results  of  exploration. 
It  is  due  rather  to  the  well  elaborated  inductions  of  Sa- 
bine and  Berghaus  and,  especially,  of  our  accomplished 
American  hydrographer.  Lieutenant  Maury.  The  ob- 
servations of  Wrangell  and  Penny,  and  still  more  lately 
of  Captain  Inglefield,  although  strongly  contirmatoiy, 
were  limited  to  a  range  of  visiun  in  no  instance  exceed- 
ing fifty  miles,  and  were  subject  to  all  the  deceptions  of 
distance.  As,  however,  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the 
existence  of  such  a  sea  are  of  the  highest  interest  to 


future  geographical  research,  and  so  far  as  I  am  aware 
have  never  yet  been  grouped  together,  I  shall  take  the 
liberty  of  presenting  them  to  the  Society. 

The  North  Polar  Ocean  is  a  great  mediterranean, 
draining  the  northern  slopes  of  three  continents,  and 
receiving  the  waters  of  an  area  of  3,^51,270  square  miles. 
Indeed,  the  river  systems  of  the  Arctic  Sea  exceed  those 
of  the  Atlantic. 

Ihe  influences  of  congelation  too,  aided  by  the  dimin- 
ished intensity  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  solar  ray, 
increase  the  atmospheric  precipitation,  and  probably 
diminish  the  compensating  evaporation.  Yet  this  posi- 
tion calls  for  further  investigation  to  establish  it  abso- 
lutely ;  for  recent  experiments  show,  that  even  in  the  dark 
hours  of  winter,  and  at  temperatures  of  fifty  degrees 
below  zero,  evaporation  goes  on  at  a  rapid  rate ;  that  it 
holds,  however,  in  general  terms,  is  evident  from  the 
inferior  specific  gravity  of  the  Arctic  waters.  They  are 
less  salt  than  those  of  more  equatorial  regions.  Their 
average  specific  gravity  (1.02G5)  indicates  about  3.60 
per  cent,  of  saline  mattei*. 

The  atmospheric  precipitation  extending  to  the  adja- 
cent land  slopes,  the  melting  of  the  snows  and  accumu- 
lated glacial  material,  and  the  floods  of  the  great  Siberian 
rivers,  are  sufficient  to  account  for  this. 

With  such  sources  of  supply,  it  is  evident  that  this 
surcharged  basin  must  have  an  outlet,  and  its  contents  a 
movement  independent  of  the  laws  of  currents  generally 
operative,  which  would  determine  them  toward  the 
Ecjuator. 

The  avenues  of  entrance  to  and  egress  from  the  polar 
basin,  are  Vjut  three  ;  Behring's  Straits,  the  estuaries  of 
Hudson's  and  Baffin's  Bays,  and  the  interval  between 


(ft? 


Greenland  and  Norway,  upon  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  known 
as  the  Greenland  Sea.  In  Behring's  Straits,  it  is  proba- 
ble, from  imperfect  observations,  that  the  surface  current 
sets  daring  a  large  portion  of  the  year  from  the  Pacific 
into  the  Arctic  Sea,  with  a  velocity  varying  from  one  to 
two  and  a  half  knots  an  hour.  Neither  the  soundings 
iior  the  diameter  of  this  Strait  indicate  any  ^  ery  large 
deep-sea  discharge  in  the  other  direction. 

The  Gulf  Stream,  after  dividing  the  Labrador  current, 
has  been  traced  by  Professor  Dove  to  the  upper  regions 
of  Novaia  Zemlia ;  so  that  Baffin's  Bay  and  the  Hudson 
and  Greenland  seas,  constitute  the  only  uniform  outlet 
to  the  polar  basin. 

It  is  by  these  avenues,  then,  that  the  enormous  masses 
of  floating  ice,  with  the  deeply  immersed  berg,  and  the 
still  deeper  belt  of  colder  water,  are  convejed  outward. 
Underlying  the  (lulf  Stieam,  whose  wateis  it  is  estima- 
ted at  least  to  equal  in  volume,  the  vast  submerged  icy 
river  flows  southward  to  the  regions  of  the  Carril)ean. 
The  recent  labors  of  the  U.  States  Coast  Survey  and 
Nautical  Observatory  have,  as  the  Society  is  aware,  de- 
veloped and  confirmed  the  previously  broached  idea  of 
a  compensating  system  of  ])olar  and  troj»ical  currents ; 
and  we  are  pre[)ared  to  consider  tliese  colder  streams,  as 
equalizers  to  the  heated  areas  of  the  tro})ical  latitudes, 
and  analogous  in  cause  and  effect  to  the  recognized  coui*se 
of  the  atmospheric  currents. 

In  fact.  Dove,  Berghaus,  and  Petermann,  three  autho- 
rities entitled  to  the  highest  respect,  recognize  for  the 
Arctic  Ocean  a  system  of  revolving  currents,  whose 
direction  duiing  summer  is  from  north  to  south,  and 
during  winter  the  reverse,  or  from  the  south  to  the 
north.    The  isotherms  of  Lieut.  Maury  (projected  by 


9 


le- 
of 

s  • 

as 


Prof.  Flye)  point  clearly  to  the  same  interesting  result. 
Contrasting^  these  great  movements  of  discharge  and  sup- 
ply witli  0  surface  actions,  we  find  during  the  summer 
months,  a  movement  along  the  northern  coasts  of  Russia, 
clearly  from  east  to  west,  from  Novaia  Zemlia  west- 
wardly  and  south-westwardly  to  Spitzl)ergen,  where, 
after  an  obscure  bifurcation,  it  is  met  by  a  great  drift  from 
the  north,  and  carried  along  the  coast  of  Greenland,  in  a 
large  body  known  as  the  East  Greenland  current.  The 
observations  collected  by  Lieut.  Commanding  De  Haven, 
show  that  this  stream  is  deflected  around  Cape  Farewell, 
passing  up  the  Greenland  coast  to  lat.  74°  76' ;  where, 
after  coming  to  the  western  side  of  the  bay,  it  passes 
along  the  eastern  coast  of  America,  even  to  the  capes 
of  Florida.  During  the  winter,  when  the  great  rivers  of 
Siberia  and  America  lose  their  volume  by  the  action  of 
the  frost,  a  current  has  l)een  noted  from  the  Faroe  Isl- 
ands, north  and  east,  along  the  Asiatic  coast,  towards 
Behring's  Straits.  And  then  it  is,  that  the  great  surface 
ice,  formed  upon  the  coasts  of  Asia,  gives  j)lace  to  a 
warmer  stream,  and  the  heated  waters  of  the  Gulf  Cur- 
rent bathe  and  temper  the  line  of  the  Siberian  coast. 

All  these  facts  go  to  prove  that  the  polar  basin  is  not 
only  the  seat  of  an  active  supply  and  discharge,  but  of  an 
intestine  circulation  in<lependent  of  either;  while  the 
inter-comnmnication  of  the  whales  (Z>.  My'S'ticetus)^  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  jis  shown  by  Maury, 
proves  directly  that  the  two  oceans  are  united. 

Admitting  the  important  fact  of  a  moving,  open  sea, 
the  recognized  equalization  of  temperatures  attending 
upon  large  water  masses,  follows  of  course.  But,  is  the 
Arctic  Sea,  in  fact,  an  unvaried  expanse  of  water  ?  For, 
if  it  be  not,  the  excessive  radiation  and  other  disturbing 


10 


f#  -■ 


influences  of  land  upon  general  temperature,  are  well 
known.  It  is,  I  think,  an  open  sea.  And  an  argument  may 
be  deduced  for  this  belief  from  the  icebergs.  The  iceberg 
is  an  offcast  from  the  polar  glacier,  and  needs  land  as  an 
essential  element  in  its  production — as  much  so  as  a  ship 
the  dockyard  on  which  she  is  built,  and  from  which 
she  is  launched.  From  the  excessive  submergence  of 
these  great  detached  masses,  they  may  be  taken  as  re* 
liable  indices  of  the  deej>sea  currents,  while  their  size  is 
such  that  they  often  reach  the  latitudes  of  the  temper- 
ate zone  before  their  dissolution.  Now,  it  is  a  remark- 
able fact,  that  these  huge  ice-hulks  are  confined  to  the 
Greenland,  Spitzbergen,  and  Baffin  seas.  Throughout 
the  entire  circuit  of  the  Polar  Ocean,  almost  seven  thou- 
sand miles  of  circumscribing  coast,  we  have  but  forty 
degrees  which  is  ever  seen  to  abound  m  them. 

A  second  argument,  bearing  upon  this,  is  found  in 
the  fact,  that  a  large  area  of  open  water  exists,  between 
the  months  of  June  and  October,  in  the  upper  parts  of 
Baffin's  Bay.  This  mediterranean  Polynya  is  called  by 
the  whalers,  the  North  Water.  After  working  through 
the  clogging  ice  of  the  intermediate  drift,  you  pass  sud- 
denly into  an  open  sea,  washing  the  most  northern 
known  shores  of  our  continent,  and  covering  an  area  of 
90,000  square  miles. 

The  iceless  interval  is  evidently  caused  by  the  drift 
having  traveled  to  the  south  without  being  reinforced 
by  fresh  supplies  of  ice;  and  the  latest  explorations 
from  the  upper  waters  of  this  V)ay  speak  of  avenues 
thirty-six  miles  wide  extending  to  the  north  and  east, 
and  free. 

The  temperature  of  this  water  is  sometimes  12*  above 
the  freezing  point ;  and  the  open  bays  or  sinuosities, 
which  often  indent  the  Spitzbergen  ice  as  high  as  81" 


11 


jove 
ities, 
81" 


N.  lat.  have  been  observed  to  give  a  sea-water  temper- 
ature as  high  as  38"  and  40",  while  the  atmosphere  indi- 
cates but  IG"  above  zero. 

But  besides  these,  we  have  arguments  growing  out  of 
the  received  theories  of  the  distribution  of  temperature 
upon  tlie  surface  of  the  earth. 

The  actual  distribution  of  heat  in  this  shut-out  region 
can  only  be  inferred. 

The  system  of  Isothermals,  projected  by  Humboldt 
upon  j)o.sitive  data,  cetised  at  32'» ;  and  the  views  of  Sir 
John  Leslie  (based  upon  Mayer's  theorem),  that  the 
north  j)ole  was  the  coldest  point  in  the  Arctic  regions, 
have,  {w  the  membei's  are  aware,  since  been  disproved. 

Sir  David  Brewster,  by  a  combination  of  the  observa- 
tions of  Scoresby,  Gieseke,  and  Parry,  determined  the 
existence  of  two  poles  of  cold,  one  for  either  hemisphere, 
and  both  holding  a  fixed  relation  to  the  magnetic  poles. 
These  two  seats  of  maximum  cold  are  situated  respect- 
ively in  Aisia  and  America,  in  longitudes  lOO"  west  and 
OS"  ea«t,  and  on  the  parallel  of  80".  They  differ  about 
five  degrees  in  their  mean  annual  temperature ;  the  Am- 
erican, which  is  the  lower,  giving  three  degrees  and  a 
half  below  zero.  The  Isothermals  surround  these  two 
points,  in  a  system  of  returning  curves,  yet  to  be  con- 
firmed by  observation ;  but  the  inference  which  I  pre- 
sent to  you  without  comment  or  opinion,  is,  that  to  the 
north  of  80",  and  at  any  points  intermediate  between 
these  American  and  Siberian  centers  of  intensity,  the 
climate  must  be  milder,  or  more  properly  speaking,  the 
mean  annual  temperature  must  l)e  more  elevated. 

Petermann,  taking  as  a  basis  the  data  of  Professor 
Dove,  deduces  a  movable  pole  of  cold,  which  in  January 
is  found  in  a  line  from  Melville  Island  to  the  River  Lena, 


12 


and,  gradually  advancing  with  the  season  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  recedes  with  the  full  and  winter  to  its 
former  position.  Such  a  movement  is  clearly  referable  to 
the  summer  land  currents  with  their  freight  of  polar  ice. 

With  the  consolidation  of  winter,  the  ice  recedes,  and 
the  Gulf  Stream  enters  more  perceptibly  into  the  far 
north.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  northeast  coast  of 
Siberia  is  forty  or  fifty  degrees  colder  than  that  of  the 
western  shores  of  Novaia  Zemlia,  while  in  July  it  is 
twenty  degrees  higher. 

But,  if  any  point  beteen  75"  and  80"  N.  lat,  a  range 
sufficiently  wide  to  include  all  the  theories,  be  regarded 
as  the  seat  of  the  greatest  intensity  of  cold,  we  may  per- 
haps infer  the  state  of  the  Polar  Sea  from  the  known 
temperatures  of  other  regions,  equally  distant  with  it 
from  this  supposed  center ;  though,  as  the  lines  of  lati- 
tude do  not  correspond  with  those  of  temperature,  this 
must  be  done  with  caution. 

I  have  been  interested  for  some  time  in  examining- 
this  class  of  deflections ;  and   I  find  that  they  point  to 
some   interesting  conclusions  as  to  the  fluidity  of  the 
region  about  the  j)ole,  and  its  attendant  mildness  of 
weather. 

Thus,  for  instance,  at  Cherie  Island,  surrounded  by 
moving  waters,  but  in  a  higher  latitude  than  Melville 
Island,  the  seat  of  the  greatest  observed  mean  annual 
cold,  the  temperature  was  found  so  mild  throughout 
the  entire  Arctic  winter,  that  rain  fell  there  upon 
Christmas  day. 

Barentz,  a  most  honest  and  reliable  authority, 
speaks  of  the  increasing  warmth  as  he  left  the  land  to 
tne  north  of  77°.  The  whalers  north  of  Spitzbergen, 
confirm  the  saying  of  the  early  Dutch  that  the  "  Fisher- 
man's Bight "  is  as  pleasant  a.s  the  sea  of  Amsterdam. 


u 


Egedesminde  and  Rittenback,  two  little  Danish 
and  Esquimaux  settlements  on  the  west  coast  of  Green- 
land, in  lat.  70",  with  a  climate  influenced  hy  adjacent 
land  masses,  l>iit,  nevertheless,  not  completely  ice-bound, 
have  a  mean  annual  temperature  of  ,  and  are  in  the 
isothermal  curve,  (summer  curve),  of  50" ;  giving  us  a 
vegetation  of  coarse  grasses,  and  a  few  crucifers. 

In  West  Lai)lan(l,  as  high  as  70",  barley  has  been 
and  I  believe  is  still  grown ;  though  here  is  its  highest 
northern  limit.  If  SO"  be  our  center  of  maximum  cold, 
the  pole,  at  90,"  is — at  the  same  distance  from  it  as  this 
West  Lapland  limit  of  the  growth  of  barley! 

But  tliere  are  otlier  arguments  l)ased  upon  known 
facts,  juid  facts  popularly  recognized,  bearing  upon  the 
theory  of  an  open  sea : 

TlIK  MIOUATIONS    OK    ANIMAL    LTFK.      At    the     UtmOSt 

limits  of  northern  travel  attained  by  man,  hordes  of 
animals  of  various  kinds  have  been  observed  to  be  trav- 
elinix  still  further. 

The  Arctic  zone,  though  not  rich  in  species,  is  teem- 
ing with  individual  life,  and  is  the  home  of  some  of  the 
most  numerous  families  known  to  the  naturalist.  Amoncr 
birds,  the  swimmei"s,  drawing  their  subsistence  from 
open  water,  arc  predominant ;  the  great  families  of 
ducks,  Airks\  and  procellarine  birds  (^Afurtiniv^  Alcince^ 
and  Prordhtrina')^  throng  the  seas  and  passages  of  the 
far  North,  and  even  incubate  in  regions  of  unknown 
northernuess.  The  eider  duck  has  been  traced  to  breed- 
ing grounds  as  high  as  78"  in  Bafiin's  Bay,  and  in  con- 
junction with  the  brent  goose,  seen  by  us  in  Wellington 
Channel,  and  the  loon  and  little  awk,  pass  in  great 
flights  to  th(^  northern  watei*s  beyond.  The  mammals  of 
the  sea — the  huge  cetacea,  in  the  three   great  families, 


14 


BeliaidoE^  Delpliimilcp^  and  Pliocidce^  represented  by  tlie 
whalei;  the  narwhal  and  the  seal,  as  well  as  that 
strange  marine  pachyderm,  the  tusky  walrus,  all  pass  in 
schools  towards  the  northern  waters.  I  have  seen  the 
white  whale  {Delphinipterus  Belaya)^  passing  up  Wel- 
lington Channel  to  the  north  for  nearly  four  successive 
days,  and  that,  too,  while  all  around  us  w.os  a  sea  of 
broken  ice. 

So  with  the  quadrupeds  of  this  region.  The  equa- 
torial range  of  the  polar  bear  ( IT.  Maritiyiui-s),  is  mis- 
conceived by  our  geographical  zoologists.  It  is  further 
to  the  north  than  we  have  yet  reached ;  and  this  pow- 
erful beast  informs  us  of  the  character  of  the  accom- 
panying life,  upon  which  he  preys. 

The  ruminating  animals,  who&e  food  must  be  a 
vegetation,  obey  the  same  impulse  or  instinct  of  far 
northern  travel.  The  reindeer  (^Cervns  levandus)^ 
although  jiroved  by  my  friend  Lieut.  McClintock  to 
"vinter  sometimes  in  tlie  Parry  group,  outside  of  the 
zone  of  woods,  comes  down  from  the  north  in  herds  as 
startling  as  those  described  by  the  Siberian  travelers,  a 
"  moving  forest  of  antlers." 

The  whalers  of  North  Baffin's  Bay,  as  high  as  Tf)", 
shoot  them  in  num))ers,  and  the  Esquimaux  of  Whale 
Sound,  77°,  are  clothed  with  their  furs.  Five  thousand 
skins  are  sent  to  Denmark  from  Egedesminde  and  IIols- 
teinberg  alone. 

Before  j)assing  from  this  branch  of  my  subject,  I  must 
mention  also  that  the  polar  drift-ice  comes  fii*st  from  the 
nortli.  The  breaking  up,  the  thaw  of  the  ice-plain, 
does  not  commence  in  our  so  called  warmer  south,  l)ut 
in  regions  to  tlie  nortli  of  those  yet  attained.  Wrangell 
speaks  of  this  on  the  Asiatic  seas,  Parry  above  Spitzber- 


15 


gen ;  and  my  friend  Capt.  Penny,  shrewd,  bold,  and 
adventurous,  confirms  it  in  his  experience  of  Welling- 
ton Sound. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  we  have  the  observations  of 
actual  travel ;  although  this,  confirmatory  as  it  is,  must, 
like  the  theoretical  views,  be  received  with  caution. 
Barentz  saw  an  opening  water  beyond  the  no'  thernmost 
point  of  Europe ;  Anjou  the  same  beyond  the  Siberian 
Bear  islands ;  and  Wrangell,  in  a  sledge  journey  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Kob  mti,  speaks  of  a  "  vast  illimitable 
ocean,"  illimitable  to  mortal  vision. 

To  penetrate  this  icy  annulus,  to  make  the  "  north- 
west passage  "  the  northeast  passage,  to  reach  the  pole, 
have  l)een  favored  dreams  since  tlie  early  days  of  ocean 
navigation.     Yet  up  to  this  moment,  complete  failure 
has   attended   every   attempt.     One   voyager,  William 
Scoresby,  known  to  the  scientific  world  for  the  range 
and  exactness  of  his  observation,  passed  l)eyond  the  lati- 
tude of  81°  30'.     But  after  discarding  the  apochryphal 
voyages  of  the  early  Dutch,  whose  imperfect  nautical 
ol)servation  rendered  entirely  unreliable  their  assertions 
of  latitudes,  we  have  the  names  of  })ut  two  wlio  may  be 
sai<l  to  have  attained  the  parallel  of  82°  ;  lieindrich 
Hudson  in  1007,  and  Edward  Parry  in  our  own  times. 

Tliis  latter  navigator  felt  that  the  sea,  ice-clogged 
with  its  floating  masses,  was  not  the  element  for  success- 
ful travel,  and  with  a  daring  unequaled,  i  think,  in  the 
history  of  personal  enterprise,  determined  to  cro&s  the 
ice  upon  sledges.  The  spot  he  selected  was  north  of 
Spitzbergen,  a  group  of  rocks  called  the  Seven  Islands, 
the  most  northern  known  land  upon  our  globe.  With 
indomitable  resolution  he  gained  within  435  miles  of  his 
mysterious  goal,  and  then,  unable  to  stem  the  rapid 
drift  to  the  southward,  was  forced  to  return. 


16 


But  the  question  of  nccess  to  tlie  Arctic  pole — the 
penetration  to  tliis  open  sea — is  now  brouc^ht  again  be- 
fore us,  not  us  in  the  days  of  Hudson  and  Seoresby  and 
Parry,  a  curious  problem  for  scientific  inquiry,  but  as  an 
object  clainiin<]f  philanthropic  effort,  and  appealing  thu8 
to  the  syin{)athuH  of  tlio  whole  civilized  world — the 
rescue  of  Sir  John  Franklin  and  his  followers. 

The  recent  discoveries  by  the  united  squadrons  of 
De  Haven  and  IVnny,  of  Fi*ankliii's  first  winter  quarters 
at  tlie  mouth  of  \V(»lHngton  Channel,  aided  by  the  com- 
plete proofs  since  obtained  that  he  did  not  proceed  to 
the  east  or  west,  r<'n<ler  it  beyond  conjecture  certain 
that  he  passed  up  Wellington  Cliannel  to  the  nortli. 

Here  we  have  lost  him  ;  and,  save  the  lonely  records 
upon  the  tomb-stones  of  his  dead,  for  seven  years  he  has 
been  lost  to  the  world.  To  assign  his  exact  position  is 
impossible:  we  only  know  that  lie  has  traveled  up  this 
land-locked  channel,  seeking  the  objects  of  his  enterprise 
to  the  north  and  west.  That  some  of  his  party  are  ye£ 
in  existence,  this  Is  not  the  place  to  argue.  Let  the 
question  rest  upon  the  oj)lnlons  of  those  who,  having 
visited  this  region,  are  at  least  ])etter  qualified  to  judge 
of  its  resources  than  those  who  have  formed  their  opin- 
ions by  the  lireside. 

The  journeys  of  Penny,  Goodsir,  Manson,  and  Suther- 
land, have  shown  this  tract  to  be  a  tortuous  estuary,  a 
highway  for  tlie  polar  lce-<lrlft,  and  interspei"sed  with 
islands,  a**  high  as  latitude  77°;  T)eyond  which  they 
could  not  see.  It  is  up  this  channel,  that  the  searching 
squadron  of  Sir  Edward  i^elcher  has  now  disappeared, 
followed  l)y  the  anxious  wishes  of  those  who  look  to  it 
as  the  final  hope  of  rescue.  I  regret  to  say,  that  after 
considering  carefully  the  prospects  of  this  squadron,  I 


17 


•ith 


ling 


have  to  confess  that  I  am  far  from  sanguine  as  to  its 
success.  It  must  be  remembered,  that  Wellington 
Channel  is  all  that  has  just  been  stated,  tortuous,  stud- 
ded with  islands,  and  a  thorouglifare  for  the  northern 
ice  ;  and  the  open  water  sighted  by  Captain  Penny  is 
not  to  be  relied  on,  either  as  extending  very  far,  or  as 
more  than  temporarily  unobstructed.  If  we  look  up 
from  the  highlands  of  Beechy  Head,  fifty  miles  of  appa- 
rently opciii  navigation  is  all  that  we  can  assert  certainly 
to  have  been  attained  by  the  searching  vessels,  and  to 
reach  the  present  known  limits  of  tlie  sound  would  re- 
quire a  progress  in  a  direct  line  on  their  part  of  at  least 
130  miles. 

They  left,  moreover,  on  the  fifth  of  August ;  and 
early  as  this  is  there  considered,  and  open  as  was  the 
season,  they  have  but  forty  days  before  winter  cements 
the  sea,  or  renders  navigation  impossible  l)y  clogging  the 
running  gear.  By  a  fortunate  concurrence  of  circum- 
stances, the  squadron  of  Sir  Edward  Belcher  may  do 
everything ;  but  I  must  repeat  that  I  am  far  from 
sanguine  as  to  their  success.  The  chances  are  against 
their  reaching  the  open  sea. 

It  is  to  announce,  then,  another  plan  of  search  that  I 
am  now  before  you ;  and  as  the  access  to  the  open  sea 
forms  its  characteristic  feature,  I  have  given  you  the 
preceding  outline  of  the  physical  characteristics  of  the 
region,  in  order  to  enable  you  to  weigh  properly  its 
merits  and  demerits. 

It  is  in  recognition  of  the  important  office  which 
American  geographer  may  perform  towards  promoting 
its  utility  and  success,  that  I  have  made  the  Society  the 
first  recipient  of  the  details  and  outlines  of  my  plan. 

Henry  Grinnell,  the  first  president  and  now  a  vice- 
2 


18 


I 


1 
I  I 


1 .1 
i  T 

i 
I 


president  of  this  Society,  has  done  nic  the  honor  of 
phicing  his  vessel,  the  Advance,  ftt  my  disjK)sition  ;  tind 
the  Secretjiiy  of  tlie  Njivy  lias  assipicd  nie  to  "8j)ecial 
duty"  for  the  conduct  of  the  expeclition. 

My  ])lan  of  searcli  is  l)ascd  upon  tlie  ju'ohahh^  exten- 
sion of  the  hmd  masses  of  (frecnh\nd  to  tlie  far  north — a 
view  yet  to  he  verified  hy  travel,  1)ut  sustained  hy  the 
analogies  of  })hysical  geograj)hy.  (Jreenland,  though 
looked  uj)on  by  Gicsc'ke  as  a  congeries  of  islands  ce- 
mented l>y  interior  glaciers,  is  in  fact  a  peninsula,  and 
follows  in  its  formation  the  general  laws  which  have 
been  recognized  since  the  days  of  Forster,  as  belonging 
to  peninsulas  with  a  southern  trend.  Its  abrupt,  trun- 
cated termination  at  Staaten-llook  is  a^^  marked  as  that 
which  is  found  at  the  Capes  (Jood  Hope  and  Horn  of 
the  two  urreat  continents,  the  C'omorin  of  Peninsular 
India,  Cape  South  East  of  Australia,  or  the  (Jibraltar  of 
southern  Spain. 

Analogies  of  general  cont(mr,  which  also  liken  it  to' 
southern  j)eninsulas,  are  even  more  striking.  The  island 
groups,  for  instance,  seen  to  the  east  of  these  southern 
points,  answering  to  the  Falkland  Ishuuls,  IVbuhigascar, 
Ceylon,  New  Zealand,  the  l^ahamas  of  Florida,  and  the 
Balearics  of  the  coast  of  Spain,  are  represented  by  Ice- 
land off  the  coast  of  (Jreenland.  It  has  been  observed 
that  all  great  peninsulas,  too,  have  an  excavation  or  ])end 
inwards  on  their  Western  side,  a  "concave  inflection" 
towards  +he  interior.  Thus,  South  America  between 
Lima  and  Valdavia,  Africa  in  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  India 
in  Cambaye,  and  Australia  in  the  Bay  of  Nuyts,  are  fol- 
lowed by  Greenland  in  the  great  excavation  of  Disco. 
Analogies  of  the  same  sort  may  offer,  when  we  consider 
those  more  important  features  of  relief  so  popularly  yet 
CO  profoundly  treated  by  Prof.  Guyot. 


19 


tlie 
co- 
ed 


Greenland  U  lined  l)y  a  couple  of  Literal  ranges, 
metaniorpliic  in  .Nfnicture,  and  expanding  in  a  douy)le 
axis  to  the  N.  N.  ^\^  a/id  X.  N.  E.  Tli<'y  ])reHent  strik- 
incf  feseinhlanc'tvs  to  tln^  (Jlmiits  o\'  India,  iK-ing  Lroken 
})y  the  same  ^w,.^  injections  of  greenstone,  and  walling 
in  a  plateau  region  where  glacial  accuniulations  corre- 
spond to  those  of  the  Ilindostan  plains. 

The  culmination  of  these  j)eaks  in  series,  indicates 
strongly  their  extension  to  a  region  far  to  the  north. 
Thus  tVoin  the  South  Cape  of  (ireenland  to  Disco  Bay, 
in  hit.  70°,  the  peaks  vary  in  height  from  8U0  to  3,200 
feet.  Those  of  Proven,  hit.  71°,  are  2,;iOO,  and  those 
observed  ]>v  me  in  hit.  7«>°  10',  <Mve  sextjiut  altitudes  of 
1,:VS(>  ftM't,  with  interior  summits  at  least  one-tliird 
higlu'r. 

The  same  continued  elevation  is  observed  by  the 
whalers  as  high  as  77°,  and  Scoresby  noted  neiirly  cor- 
responding elevations  on  the  eastern  coasts,  in  lat.  73°. 
Tile  coast  seen  by  Ingletield,  to  the  north  of  78°,  was 
hi<di  and  commandini'. 

From  these  alternating  altitudes,  eontimied  through- 
out a  meridian  line  of  nearly  eleven  hundred  geograph- 
ical miles,  I  infer  that  this  chain  follows  the  nearly  uni- 
versal law  of  a  gradual  subsidence,  and  that  Greenland 
is  continued  farther  to  the  north  than  any  other  known 
land.  In  the  old  continents  the  land  slopes  towards  the 
Arctic  Sea;  but  although  in  the  new  world  the  descent 
of  the  land  genera dy  is  t(»  the  east,  the  law  of  the 
gradual  decline  of  meridional  cr.'.iins  is  univei'sal. 

Believing,  then,  in  such  an  extensiim  of  Greenland, 
and  tWliuiT  that  the  search  for  Sir  John  Fianklin  is  best 
promoted  by  a  course  which  will  lead  directly  to  the 
open  sea,— fueling,  too,  that  the  approximation  of  the 


■ 


i 


20 


meridians  would  make  access  to  the  west  as  easy  from 
Nortliern  Greenland  as  from  "Wellington  Channel,  and 
acces«  to  the  east  far  more  easy, — feeling,  too,  that  the 
highest  protruding  headland  will  be  most  likely  to 
afford  some  trace  of  the  lost  party, — I  am  led  to  propose 
and  attempt  this  line  of  search. 

Admitting  such  an  extension  of  the  land  masses  of 
Greenland  to  the  north,  we  have  the  following  induce- 
ments for  exploration  and  research. 

1.  Terra  firma  as  tlie  basis  of  our  operations,  obviating 
the  capricious  character  of  ice  travel. 

2.  A  due  northern  line,  which,  throwing  jiside  the  in- 
fluences of  terrestial  radiation,  would  lead  soonest  to  the 
open  sea,  should  such  exist. 

3.  The  benefit  of  the  fan-like  abutment  of  land,  on  the 
north  face  of  (ireeidand,to  check  the  ice  in  the  course  of 
its  southern  or  equatorial  di-ift,  thus  obviating  the  great 
draw-back  of  Parry  in  his  attempts  to  reach  the  ])ole  by 
the  Spitzbergen  Sea. 

4.  Animal  life  to  sustain  traveling  parties. 

f).  The  co-operation  of  the  Escpiimaux,  itc. ;  settlements 
of  these  peo])le  having  been  found  as  high  as  Whale 
Sound,  and  prol>ably  extending  still  further  along  the 
coast. 

The  point  T  would  endeavor  to  attain  would  be  the 
highest  attainable  seats  of  Baffin's  Bay,  fi-om  the  sound 
known  as  Smith's  Sound,  and  advocated  by  Baron 
"Wrangell  as  the  most  eligil^le  site  for  reacliing  the 
north  pole. 

As  a  point  of  departure  it  is  two  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  to  the  north  of  Beechy  Island,  the  starting  i)()int 
of  Sir  Edward  Belchei*,  and  seventy  miles  north  of  the 
utmost  limits  seen  or  recorded  in  Wellington  Channel. 


21 


The  party  should  consist  of  some  thirty  men,  with  a 
couple  of  launches,  sledges,  dogs,  and  gutta  percha  boats. 
The  provisions  to  be  pemmican,  a  preparation  of  dried 
meat,  packed  in  cases  impregnable  to  the  assaults  of  the 
polar  bear. 

We  shall  leave  the  United  States  in  time  to  reach  the 
Bay  at  the  earliest  season  of  navigation.  The  brig  fur- 
nished by  Mr.  (irinnoll  for  this  purpose,  is  admirably 
strengthened  and  fully  equipped  to  meet  the  peculiar 
trials  of  the  service.  After  reaching  the  settlement  of 
IJppernavik,  we  take  in  a  supply  of  Esquimaux  dogs,  and 
a  few  picked  men  to  take  charge  of  the  sledges. 

We  then  enter  the  ice  of  Melville  Bay,  and,  if  success- 
ful in  ])enetrating  it,  hasten  to  Smith's  Sound,  forcing  our 
vessel  to  the  utmost  navigable  point,  and  there  securing 
her  for  the  winter.  The  o])erations  of  search,  however, 
are  not  to  be  suspended.  Active  exercise  is  the  best 
safeguard  against  the  scurvy ;  and  although  the  dark- 
ness of  winter  will  not  be  in  our  favor,  I  am  convinced 
that,  with  the  exce})tion,  perhaps,  of  the  solistitial  period 
of  maxinmm  obscurity,  we  can  push  foiward  our  provi- 
sion dej)()ts,  by  sledge  and  launch,  and  thus  prepare  for 
the  final  efl'orts  of  our  search. 

In  this  1  am  strengthened  by  the  valuable  opinion  of 
my  friend,  Mr.  ]Murdaugh,  late  the  sailing  master  of  the 
Advance.  lie  has  advocated  this  very  Sound  as  a  basis 
of  land  o])erations.  And  the  recent  journey  of  Mr. 
William  Kennedy,  commanding  Lady  Franklin's  last 
expedition,  shows  that  the  fall  and  winter  should  no 
longer  be  ri'garded  as  lost  months. 

The  sletlges,  which  constitute  so  important  a  feature  of 
our  expedition,  and  upon  which  not  only  our  success  but 
our  safety  will  depend,  are  to  be  constructed  with  ex- 


treme  care.  Each  sledge  will  carry  the  blanket,  bags, 
and  furs  of  six  men,  together  with  a  measured  allowance 
of  pemmican ;  a  light  tent  of  india-rubber  cloth,  of  a 
new  pattern,  will  be  added ;  but  for  our  nightly  halt 
the  main  dependence  will  be  the  snow  house  of  the  Es- 
quimaux. It  is  almost  incredible,  in  the  face  of  what 
obstacles,  to  what  extent,  a  well  organized  sledge  par- 
ty can  advance.  The  relative  importance  of  every 
ounce  of  weight  can  be  calculated,  and  the  system  of 
advanced  de|)ots  of  provisions  organized  admiral)ly. 

Alcohol  or  tallow  is  the  only  fuel ;  and  the  entire 
cooking  apparatus,  which  is  more  for  thawing  the  snow 
for  tea-water  than  for  heating  food,  can  be  carried  in  a 
little  bair.  Lieut.  Mc  Clintock,  of  Commander  Austin's 
expedition,  traveled  thus  SCO  miles — the  collective 
journeys  of  the  expedition  ecpialed  several  thousand  ; 
and  Baron  Wrangell  made  by  dogs  l,r).*l;5  miles  in  seven- 
ty-four days,  and  this  over  a  fast  fi'ozen  oct*an. 

But  the  greatest  sledge  journey  upon  record  is  that 
of  my  friend,  ]\rr.  Kennedy,  who  accomj>lished  nearly 
1,400  miles,  most  of  it  in  mid-winter,  without  returning 
U])on  his  track  to  avail  himself  of  deposited  j)rovisions. 
His  only  food — and  we  may  here  learn  the  practical 
lesson  of  the  traveler,  to  avoid  unnecessarv  bafrL'aire — 
was  pennnican,  and  his  only  shelter  the  .s'/i()>r  /iou.S'e. 

It  is  my  intention  to  cover  each  sle<lge  with  a  gutta 
percha  boat — a  contrivance  whieh  the  exjK.'ricnce  of  the 
English  h'ds  shown  to  be  perfectly  portable.  Thus 
equij)ped,  we  follow  the  trend  of  the  coast,  seeking  the 
oj)e?i  icattr. 

Once  there,  if  such  a  reward  awaits  ns,  we  launch  cmr 
little  boats,  and,  bidding  (lod  speed  us,  embark  upon  its 
waters. 


23 


Gentlemen  of  the  Society — if  I  may  he  permitted 
particularly  to  address  you — the  resources  of  those 
whose  philanthropy  has  fitted  out  this  expedition,  must 
he  scrupulously  appropriated  to  the  single  object  of 
search.  But  this  search  is  not  merely  a  voyage  of 
rescue ;  it  appeals  to  the  liighest  interests  of  scientific 
inquiry ;  but  to  i)hysical  geography  especially. 

A  simple  inspection  of  the  proposed  line  of  travel 
will  show  its  peculiar  availability  for  purposes  of  phys- 
ical research. 

In  thei'nial  science,  it  will  connect  and  continue  in 
series  the  observations  instituted  by  the  Danish  Govern- 
ment on  the  lower  coast  <jf  Greenland.  Thus  aftbrding 
new  and  valuable  data  for  the  extension  of  the  positive 
Isothermals,  and  the  determination  of  the  distribution 
of  heat  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

In  terrestrial  jnagnetism,  i)erhaps  no  spot  could  be 
found  where  an  accurate  registration  would  be  more 
valuable.  It  is  intermediate  between  the  Asiatic  and 
American  Mairnetic  Poles,  and  on  a  meridian  line  bear- 
ing  a  uniform  relation  to  each.  The  elements  most 
wantinLf  in  the  (iaussian  formula  mifdit  here  be  contri- 
buted  largely,  and  a<lditional  light  be  thrown  upon  the 
great  questions  of  the  amount  antl  direction  of  the 
earth's  mai^netic  force. 

So  inq)ortant  art^  these  objects,  that  Prof.  Henry, 
with  that  liberal  view  of  the  objects  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  whicli  has  made  it  to  be  already  recognized 
as  fulHlliiig  the  just  intentions  of  its  founder,  "the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge  among  men,"  has  volunteered,  upon 
the  contingency  of  future  payment,  to  order  the  neces- 
sary instruments ;  and  the  Honorable  John  P.Kennedy, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  himself  a  votary  of  science, 


24 


i:i 


and  possessing  the  rare  abilities  of  reconciling  its  high 
interests  with  the  duties  of  official  station,  has  com- 
mended an  organization  of  this  branch  of  my  approach- 
ing duties  to  the  attention  of  Congress. 

Such  an  organization  it  would  be  my  pride  to  mature, 
and  my  labor  to  render  effective.  I  ask  from  you  such 
a  co-operation  as  is  due  to  the  character  of  your  learned 
body,  and  the  importance  of  the  interests  which  it  has 
assumed  to  take  under  its  charsre. 


jti 


high 
com- 
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iture, 
such 
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t  has 


